The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans established a coastal slave trade in the 15th century and trade to the Americas began in the 16th century, lasting through the 19th century. The vast majority of those who were transported in the transatlantic slave trade were from Central Africa and West Africa and had been sold by West African slave traders to European slave traders, while others had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids. European slave traders gathered and imprisoned the enslaved at forts on the African coast and then brought them to the Americas. Some Portuguese and Europeans participated in slave raids. As the National Museums Liverpool explains: "European traders captured some Africans in raids along the coast, but bought most of them from local African or African-European dealers." Many European slave traders generally did not participate in slave raids because life expectancy for Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa was less than one year during the period of the slave trade because of malaria that was endemic in the African continent. An article from PBS explains: "Malaria, dysentery, yellow fever, and other diseases reduced the few Europeans living and trading along the West African coast to a chronic state of ill health and earned Africa the name 'white man's grave.' In this environment, European merchants were rarely in a position to call the shots." The earliest known use of the phrase began in the 1830s, and the earliest written evidence was found in an 1836 published book by F. H. Rankin. Portuguese coastal raiders found that slave raiding was too costly and often ineffective and opted for established commercial relations.
The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were then traded for slaves with rulers of African states and other African slave traders. Slave ships transported the slaves across the Atlantic. The proceeds from selling slaves were then used to buy products such as furs and hides, tobacco, sugar, rum, and raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the triangle.
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset trade imbalances between different regions.
The Slave Coast is a historical region along the Atlantic coast of West Africa, encompassing parts of modern-day Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. It is located along the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Benin that is located between the Volta River and the Lagos Lagoon.
Caleb B. Gardner of Newport, Rhode Island, was an American slave trader and slavery oligarch. He was the owner or part share owner of more than a dozen slave trade vessels. On many voyages, he was also the Captain of the vessel.
Brooks was a British slave ship launched at Liverpool in 1781. She became infamous after prints of her were published in 1788. Between 1782 and 1804, she made 11 voyages from Liverpool in the triangular slave trade in enslaved people. During this period she spent some years as a West Indiaman. She also recaptured a British merchantman and captured a French merchantman. Brooks's last voyage shipping enslaved people was to Montevideo in the South Atlantic where she was condemned as unseaworthy in November 1804.
Christopher was a ship built in America and taken in prize in 1780. She first appears in British records in 1786. Liverpool merchants purchased her before then, probably in 1785. Thereafter she made eight voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She sank in 1794 in the harbour at Saint Croix.
Experiment was launched on the River Thames in 1789. She made seven voyages for Calvert & Co. as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, carrying captives from the Gold Coast to Jamaica. A French squadron captured her in 1795.
Elliott was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made ten voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. Next, she made one voyage as a whaler. She then became a merchantman, sailing between England and South America. In November 1807 French privateers captured her.
Eliza was launched in America in 1780 and taken in prize in 1782. She entered the Liverpool registry in 1783, 1786, and again in 1792. She made nine voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in an explosion on her tenth voyage after she had already embarked her captives. All the captives died, as did her captain and most of her crew. The explosion occurred during a single ship action on 17 December 1797, with a French privateer.
Otter was launched at Liverpool in 1797, initially as a West Indiaman. She made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she captured one merchantman and recaptured another. She was lost in 1807 on her way back to Britain from her seventh enslaving voyage.
Byam was a snow launched at Oban, or possibly Padstow, in 1800. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured and burnt her in late 1807 or early 1808 as she was about to deliver the captives from her fifth voyage.
African Queen was built at Folkestone in 1780, though almost surely under a different name. In 1792, she became a Bristol-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two complete voyages transporting enslaved people. On the first of these voyages she suffered a high mortality, both among her captives and her captains and crew. A privateer captured her in 1795 as she was on her way to Jamaica with captives while on her third voyage transporting enslaved people.
The African Origins project is a database run by researchers at Emory University, Georgia, United States, which aims to document all the known facts about the African diaspora, including all documentary material pertaining to the transatlantic slave trade. It is a sister project to Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database.
Aurora was launched at Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed the captives from her fifth voyage.
Old Dick was launched at Bermuda in 1789. She sailed to England and was lengthened in 1792. From 1792 on she made two full voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her second she recaptured two British merchant ships. She was lost in 1796 at Jamaica after having landed her third cargo of captives.
John Dawson was a Liverpool slave trader and captain. Between 1783 and 1792, Dawson and his business partner Peter Baker were the largest slave traders in Great Britain.
Lovely Lass was launched in France in 1780, almost surely under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1788. She made three voyages as a Bristol-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then briefly became a West Indiaman before she became a Liverpool-based enslaving ship. She was lost in 1798 on her first voyage from Liverpool to gather captives.
Sir William Douglas was a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, acquired by British interests in 1801. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people and was captured in 1803 after having delivered captives on her second voyage.
Brothers was launched in the Thirteen Colonies in 1772, probably under another name. From 1785 she became a Bristol-based slave ship. She made six complete voyages in the triangular trade, in all embarking 1880 enslaved people. The French captured her in December 1794 as she was on the first leg of her seventh such voyage and before she had embarked any captives. The main source for this article provided detail on crew turnover and death rates for her first three voyages. The first voyage had a particularly heavy mortality rate among the crew. The main source also provided data for her fourth, fifth, and sixth voyages for mortality rates on the Middle Passage among the enslaved people that she was carrying.
